Innehållsförteckning för 234 från Pro Photo

There are plenty of people raking over the ashes of the now-defunct AIPP, but since this magazine was born out of the original organisation back in the late 1930s and was closely involved for around the next 50 years, I think we’re entitled to make a few observations. After becaming the editor in 1989 of what was then called Professional Photography In Australia – and was still the AIPP’s official journal – I worked closely with a number of national presidents and we remained involved with the Institute even after the long association was eventually cut (a story for another time). Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge the immense effort put in by so many volunteers over the decades, people who were often juggling photography businesses and young families at the…

Nikon is putting the pedal to the metal with its rollout of Z-mount lenses, with an updated roadmap revealing plans for a set of supertelephoto primes in the 400mm, 600mm and 800mm focal lengths, a 200-600mm supertele zoom, and a fast 85mm prime. The 400mm supertele is an f/2.8 speed S-series lens and will include an integrated 1.4x teleconverter to give a focal length of 560mm. This lens will have Nikon’s ‘VR’ optical image stabilisation. Announced along with the Z 9 are two new Z-mount zooms and a new, more compact, F-to-Z mount adapter called the FTZ II. The new zooms are the Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4.0 S and the Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S. The F-mount 24-120mm zoom was a popular lens for Nikon’s full-frame DSLRs, and the…

Panasonic has introduced its second box-style, modular pro-level video camera to join the existing Lumix BGH1 Micro Four Thirds model. However, the new Lumix BS1H uses the same full-frame sensor as the hybrid S1H and shares many of its features. It also uses the L mount, which supports lenses from Panasonic, Leica, and Sigma. Despite the bigger sensor and mount, the BS1H is virtually the same size as the M43 model, and the box-form body is designed to make it easier to use in a video rig and to attach components such as a monitor or an external recorder. Consequently, it has all the industry-standard connections and interfaces – such as SDI, HDMI, Genlock IN and timecode I/O – as well as offering LAN with PoE+ for power and communications.…

SENSOR: The Z 9 is Nikon’s first application of a ‘stacked’ CMOS sensor, a design arrangement needed to deliver the faster read-out rates required for high-speed shooting, and also high res and high frame rate video recording. It also reduces rolling shutter distortion while allowing for a blackout free viewfinder during high-speed shooting. Faster scanning has enabled the flash sync speed when using the electronic shutter to be lifted to 1/200 second. The stacked arrangement incorporates a second silicon layer behind the imaging chip that boasts integrated memory (DRAM) – so the data can essentially ‘marshalled’ prior to read-out to speeds things up considerably – and also enables some data processing capabilities. For the record, it’s also a BSI-type CMOS and it does not have an optical low-pass filter. The…

I’m sitting in the POOL Collective office at Enmore in the inner suburbs of Sydney. On the walls around me are displayed images by Sean Izzard, Ingvar Kenne, Simon Harsent, Juliet Taylor and several other long-standing Collective members. Sean walks in with a glass of water for me as I ponder whether Simon Harsent’s portrait of John McEnroe is toned or black and white? However, I’m not here to discuss that. I first noticed Sean Izzard’s name in the first Fuji ACMP Australian Photographers Collection published in 1995, and he had images in all of the nine subsequent books. Sean was inspired by the images in Richard Avedon’s book, In The American West, Sebastião Salgado’s An Uncertain Grace, and by Helmut Newton and Irving Penn. He has a love of…

THERE’S REALLY NO DOUBTING that the GFX 50S II is a camera designed for photography and it has some video capabilities simply because it has to these days. That said, what it does as a video camera, it does well and the inherently shallower depth-of-field of the bigger sensor is equally appealing for this application as for photography. The video specs are very modest compared to the high resolutions, frame rates and bit rates now on offer with the smaller sensor mirrorless cameras against which the 50S II is competing, but it has enough for anybody wants to shoot the occasional clip either for fun or for a client. Certainly, the quality is good enough as the sensor benefits definition, dynamic range and low light performance just as it does…

One of the most common questions photographers ask themselves is whether to opt for continuous LED or flash lighting on a shoot. Both options are capable of delivering beautiful, high-quality images, but are used in very different ways with very different outcomes. Now there’s a third option to consider as well that might make that choice easier. Hybrid lighting is a relatively new concept combining the advantages of both a continuous LED source and a flash in a single unit. Digital cameras themselves have long had the ability to deliver both high quality stills and video, but the advancements in lighting haven’t kept up – until now. Hybrid lighting allows photographers to produce both stills and video using a single light setup, reducing the amount of equipment required while also…

The first product to bear the new OM System branding – which replaces Olympus – is the M.Zuiko Digital ED 20mm f/1.4 PRO prime (equivalent to 40mm). Joining the expanding PRO series of high-performance M.Zuiko Digital lenses, the new 20mm has an 11-element construction that now uses fewer than eight special types to optimise sharpness and correct for various aberrations. These comprise one ‘Super ED’ type and three ‘ED’ types – all with extra-low dispersion characteristics to minimise chromatic aberrations – two ‘Super HR’ types (with a high refractive index) and a pair of aspherical elements. ‘ZERO’ multi-coating is employed to minimise internal reflections and hence reduce ghosting and flare. OM Digital Solutions says the optical design has the necessary resolution to support the ‘High Res Shot’ mode in OM-D…

Australia’s sole remaining body representing professional photographers has been placed in voluntary administration and ceased operations, citing a dramatic drop in income – primarily due to the loss of members as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns – as the main reason. Announcing the closure (with immediate effect) on 11 November, the Australian Institute Of Professional Photography stated, “The AIPP had been in a slow decline for more than a decade. The current AIPP Board had significant plans and initiatives to reverse this decline, reinvigorate the AIPP for a new generation of imagemakers, and align itself better with the arts industries. However, the pandemic has made it impossible to implement these changes”. According to the AIPP, over the last 20 months more than 700 members had cancelled their memberships…

Type: Professional digital medium format mirrorless camera with Fujifilm G bayonet lens mount. Focusing: TTL automatic using contrast-detection measurements. 117 or 425 measuring points (13x9 or 25x17 patterns). Single-point, Zone (7x7, 5x5 or 3x3 point clusters selected from 117 points) and Wide/Tracking modes. Six focus point sizes. Face/eye detection with left/right priority. Manual switching between one-shot and continuous AF modes. AF+MF mode. Low-light assist via illuminator. Manual focus assist via magnified image, focus peaking display (white, red, blue or yellow; low or high levels). Sensitivity range is EV -3.5 - 18 (ISO 100 and f/1.7). Metering: 256-point multi-zone, centre-weighted average, full average, spot (2.0% of frame area) and TTL flash. Spot metering can be locked to AF point/zone. Metering range is EV -4.0 to 20 (ISO 100 and f/2.0). Exposure…